Ethical issues in service robotics and artificial intelligence
Abstract
As we come to increasingly rely on robotic and Artificial Intelligence technologies, there are a growing number of ethical concerns to be considered by both service providers and consumers. This review concentrates on five such issues: (1) ubiquitous surveillance, (2) social engineering, (3) military robots, (4) sex robots, and (5) transhumanism. With the partial exception of transhumanism, all of these areas of AI and robotic service interaction already present ethical issues in practice. But all five areas will raise additional concerns in the future as these technologies develop further. These issues have serious consequences and it is imperative to research and address them now. I outline the relevant literatures that can guide this research. The paper fills a gap in recent work on AI and robotics in services. It expands views of service contexts involving robotics and AI, with important implications for public policy and applications of service technologies.
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Robotics is used to provide services to humans, such as cleaning, food delivery, and customer service.
“Robotics is used to provide services to humans, such as cleaning, food delivery, and customer service.”
From Artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning in advanced robotics, a review (2023) · cites this paper as [16]
AI and ML algorithms are used to enable robots to interact with humans and understand their needs and preferences.
“AI and ML algorithms are used to enable robots to interact with humans and understand their needs and preferences [16] .”
From Artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning in advanced robotics, a review (2023) · cites this paper as [16]
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“E ff orts are underway to establish standards for human-machine ethics based on philosophical arguments (e.g. Cath, 2018; Win fi eld & Jirotka, 2018).”
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“…robots are being proposed as new tools and solutions (Sharkey and Sharkey, 2012; Belk, 2021), older adults were adamant that social robots should not replace people, especially thinking about those in the their healthcare and social networks (Wangmo et al., 2019; Belk, 2021; Boada et al., 2021).”
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- Authors
- Belk, R.
- Affiliations
- York University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Belk, Russell
- ORCID
- Belk, Russell
- Venue
- The Service Industries Journal
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-03-06
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 13-14
- Pages
- 860-876
- ISSN
- 0264-2069 (ISSN-L)
- 1743-9507
- OpenAlex
- W3009515248
- Cited by
- 228
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 27 · 2025: 51 · 2024: 56 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 6
- FWCI
- 30.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Service Industries Journal (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › AI in Service Interactions
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Control and Systems Engineering › Robotics and Automated Systems
- Keywords
- service robotics, AI ethics, ubiquitous surveillance, social engineering, military robots, sex robots, transhumanism, human-robot interaction, public policy
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